Electron-discharge-tube socket



May 7, 1929. c., HARDY 1,712,212

ELECTRON DISCHARGE TUBE SOCKET Filed OCb. l2, 1925 1 l f 1 f r IlINVENTOR Chorlea I'lavfdg .ATTORNEYS Patented May 7, 1929.

1,712,212 ENTOFFICE.

PAT

CHARLES HANDY, or NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR 'roAMsco rRoiiUOrs, INC., orNEW i YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

ELECTRON-DISCHARGE-TUBE SOCKET.

- Application led Octo'ber 12, 1925. Serial No. 61,5531.

This invention relates to improvements in sockets or receptacles forelectron discharge or vacuum tubes of the type employed in radioreceiving sets.

The principal object of my present invention comprehends the provisionof an -improved socket for electron discharge or vacuum tubes embodyinga construction which is designed to meet various requirements of serviceof the manufacturer, assembler and user of radio receiving sets in ahighly efficient and economical manner.

More specifically, the prime desiderata of the present invention includethe provision of an electron discharge tube socket `constructed anddesigned so as to be capableof being manufactured in large Iquantitieseconomically and uniformly, assembled in radio receiving sets withfacility and rapidity and used with'convenience and efliciency, thestill further provision of a vacuum tube socket constructed to form lasubstantially closed casing or receptacle, housing or enclosing theresilient contact elements thereof, the socket being adapted to receivethe electron discharge tube in only one position, with the contact pinsof the tube cooperating in a predetermined way with the contact elementsv of the socket; the further provision of an improved socket of thistype in which the resilient Contact elements of the socket engage thesides of the tube contact pins to produce a clean and effectiveelectrical engagement or contact therewith, and to hold the tubesecurely in its mounted position; the still further provision of animproved socket of the nature referred to which is readily mountable, asby means of a sin 'le securing element, on a base or sub-base o a radioreceiving set; the further provision of a socket structure defining asubstantially closed casing made of body and cover sec- .'f 'tions whichmay he readily assembled to v' produce the casing unit, and in which thej arts are coordinated to interengage or interoclr, 'so that thesocketmay be manufactured with a minimum ofparts correlated to producearugged 'and strong structure; and the, further provision of an electrondischarge tube socket having'its lpartseoordinatedto produ'ea neatjandattractive appearance and'design. l,

-To the accomplishmentvof the foregoing and such other objects as willhereinafter appear, myf invention .consistsi in the elements and theirrelation oneto the other, as hereinafter more particularly described andsought to be defined in the claims; reference -beine` had to theaccompanying drawing whic shows the preferred embodiment of myinvent1on,and in which:

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional elevational view of a socket embodying theprinciples of my invention and showing the manner of its ing orreceptacle housing or enclosing the Contact elements of' the socket, thecover section B defining a base for receiving and mounting the electrondischarge tube generally designated as C.

The base or cover section B of' the soclzet\ comprises a unitary .membermade of an insulation material molded' to provide the cover portion 10and the integral hub por- -tion 11, the said hub Aportion defining ameans for receiving a securing element `such as a screw '12 forattaching the socket structure vto a support such as a mounting base 13,the said hub 11 being provided with a metallic insert 1.4 molded in thehub 11, which insert defines a rivet or securinfr means for uniting thebase B to the body of the socket, as will become clearer hereinafter Thebase or cover section Bis designed l tube C.' From a consideration ofFigs. 1 2 and 3 of the drawings, it will be seen that the width of theorifices 17 and 18 is greater, vthan thatof the orifices -15 and 16, andthat these orifices are spaced non-uniformly about the axis of thesocket to correspond to the dimensions and spacing of the conl tact pins2l and 22 and 19 and 20, so that the vacuum tube is receivable by thesocket in only a given or predetermined position, so as to obviateimproper mounting of the tube on the socket.

For cooperation with the contact. pins 19-22 of the electron dischargetube C, there is provided a plurality of resilient Contact elements 23,.24, 25 and 2G which are secured interiorly to the base or cover sectionB, each of the Contact elements being secured to the cover sectionpreferably by means of a rivet 27, each of the said coutact elementsbeing disposed radially of the socket base, so that its outer endextends radially from the socket structure for ready connection orattachment to the electrical Wiring of the radio receiving set, theinner end of each contact element being disposed adjacent and below oneof the contact pin receiving orifices and yin the path of movement of atube Contact pin so as to engage the side of a contact pin when the tubeis mounted on the socket base Preferably the construction is such thatthe contact pins and contact elements engage with a scraping action soas to remove the oxidized surface on either contact element, and thusproduce elicient electrical engagement. To accomplish this object, theinner ends 23-26 ofl the contact elementsl are bent so that the outerfree edges thereof are positioned in the path of movcnlenttof thecontact pins 19-22 to engage the latter with a scraping action.

It will be noted that each of the Contact /elements is attached to thecover section or base B at only one point by means of the rivets 27, andin order to retainingly seat the contact elements or springs 23-26against rotation, the vbase B is preferably formed with pairs ofintegral ribs 28 and 29, one pair for each Contact element, the ribs ofa pair defining a seat for receiving the contact element or spring andretaining the same against rotation about the securing rivet, as will beclearly apparent from a consideration of Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings.

Preferabl the base orvcover section B is pro-- vided wit 1 an integralraised annulus 30 forV seating the base of the vacuum tube.

vThe socket body A inthe preferred construction comprises a cup-shapedelementalso made of an insulation material molded to provide a bottomwall 31 and ,a side wall `32, the said bottom wall being provided with acentral aperture 33 which receives vthe metallic insert or rivet 14 ofthe cover section, the lower edge of said rivet being flanged over orriveted onto the underneath wall of the body bottom 31 to unite the bodyand cover sections together to form the sock et unit, as will be clearlyapparent from a consideration of Fig. 1 of the drawings. With thisconstruction, it will be seen that the\socket unit may be attachedormounted on-a support such as a base board 13 with the use oi a singlesecuring element such as 12, the bottom of the.v cup A being providedwith a plurality of integral prongs 34 which, when pressed into the baseboard 13, retain the socket unit against rotation thereon. Preferablythe hub l1 of the socket is provided at its top with a countersunkportion fifi-for receiving and concealing the head of the seein-ingscrew 12. gThe cup A may `further be provided with the integralstrengthening ribs 36, 3G. y s

'lo previ-nt displacement or rotation of the cover section B on the cupor body section A. the top of' the body side wall 32 is provided with apluralit y of cut-out portions 37, 88, 39 and 40 (see particularly Figs.1 and 4 of the drawings) which accommodate and receive the extendingorprotruding ends of the leaf contact elements 23--26 and cooperatetherewith to prevent rotation of the casing sectiou on the body casingscction A. 5 y

The manner of making, assembling and using ithe improved socket of myinvention and the many advantages thereof will in the main be fullyapparent from the above detailed description thereof. It will beapparent that the body and cover sections A and B of the socket define asubstantially closed casing or receptacle which houses or encloses thecontact elements and pins of the socket and vacuum tube, with the coverof the casing forming a tube receiving base which receives the vacuumtube in only one predetermined position, thus inhibiting a mismountingof the tube on the socket. It will be .further seen that the Contactelements of the socket are designed so as to assure a clean contact withthe contact pins l may be readily molded in attractive designs;

and may be rapidly assembled by first attaching the contact elements23e-26 onto the cover section B and by riveting the hub of the coversectioncentrally to the cup section A, the parts interlocking toproducea strong socket unit.

readily assembled in quantities, the same vrequiring the employment of'only a single securing screw. The parts, moreover, lcooperate to producea neat and attractive appearance and design. v

While I have shown and described my invention inthe preferred form, itwill be ap-V' parent that numerous changes" and modifi- It will be fur-lther apparent that the socket units may be` miams cations may be made inthe structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of theinvention, defined in the following claims.

I claim:

l. An electron discharge tube socket comprising body and cover sections,one of said sections being provided with an oriced hub secured to theother section for uniting the sections together to form a substantiallyclosed casing, the hub defining a means for receiving a socket scouringscrew or the like, one ot' `said sections defining the tube receivingbase and being provided with a plurality of orificesI dilncnsioned andrelatively spaced to receive the contact pins of the tube. and resilientContact elements secured interiorly to one of the casing sections andpositioned to be engaged by the contact pins when the tube is placed onthe socket base.

An electron discharge tube socket coinprising' body und cover sections,one of said sections being provided with an orificed hub secured to theother section for uniting the sections together to form a substantiallyclosed casing, the hub defining a means for receivingr a socket securingscrew or the like, one ot said sections defining the tube rccciving baseand being provided with a plurality of orifices diniensioned andrelatively spaced to receive the contact pins of the. tube, andresilient contact elements secured interior-ly to one et' the casingsections, each having its end edge positioned below one ot said orificesin the path of movement ot' a tube contact pin so as to be arranged toengage the side ot a contact pin with a scraping action when the tube ismounted on the socket base.

An electron discharge tube socket comprising body and cover sections,one of said sections being provid'cd with an orificcd hub secured to theother section for uniting the sections together to form a substantiallyclosed casing, the hub defining a means for receiving a socket securingscrew or the like, the said cover section defining the tube receivingbase and being provided with a plurality of orifices dimensioned andrelatively spaced to receive the contact pins of the tube, and leafcontact springs secured interiorly to said base having inner endsadapted for engaging the tube contact pins and having outer' endsextending laterally from the socket casing, the top of Said casing bodybeing provided with cut-out portions tor accommodating and receiving theextending ends of the contact springs and cooperatinging therewith topreventrotation ot the cover casing section on the body casing section.

4. An electron discharge tube socket comprising body andl coversections, one of said sect-ions being provided with-a screw receivinghub portion secured to the other section for uniting the sectionstogether to form a substantially closed casing, the said cover sectiondefining the tube receiving base and being provided With a plurality oforifices dimcnsioned and relatively spaced to receive the contact-pinsof the tube, contact springs for cooperation with the contact pins eachsecured interiorly at one point to said base, the base being formed withintegral means for seating the springs against rotation, the saidspringshaving outer ends extending radially from the socket casing andthe top of said casing body hving cutf out portions for accommodatingand receiving the extending ends ot the springs and cooper-atingtherewith to prevent rotation of the cover casing section on the bodycasing' section.

5. An electron discharge tubecsocket com* prising a cup section, a coversection forming a tube receiving base, both sections made of moldedinsulation material, one of said sect-ions having an integral hubportion provided with a rivet insert Which is riveted vto the othersection, a plurality of orices in the cover section, Contact springsriveted interiorly to the cover section each having an inner endadjacent an c `ifice and an outer end extending radially from thesocket, the cover section being ribbed to provide retaining seats forthe springs.

G. An electron discharge tube socket comprising a cup section, a coverSection forming a tube receiving base, both sections made of moldedinsulation material, one of said sections having an integral hub ortionprovided With a rivet insert whic is riveted to the other section, aplurality of orifices in the cover section, contact sprinrs rivetedinteriorly to the cover section each having an inner end adjacent anorifice and an outer end extending radially from the socket, the coversection being ribbed to provide retaining seats for the springs, the topof said cup section having cut-out portions accommodating and receivingthe ext-ending ends ot the springs and cooperating therewith to preventrotation of the cover section on 'the cup section.

7. An electron discharge tube socket comprising body and cover sectionsforming a substantially closed casing, one of said sections having anintegral central hub portion provided with a rivet insert which isriveted to the other section, one of said sections defining the tubereceiving base being provided With a plurality of orifices dimensionedand relatively spaced to receive the contact pins of the tube, andresilient contact elements secured interiorly to one of the casingsections and positioned to be engaged by the contact pins when the tubeis placed on the socketbase.

8. An electron discharge tube socket comprising body and cover sectionsforming a.

ioo

Substantially closed casing, one of smid son tions having im integralcontrai huh port-ion provided with a rive-t inSort which is riveted tothe other section, one oi Said swftions dc- 5N filling the Luhereceiving has@ boing provided with u plurality of orificos dimmisioneiiand rolntix-'ely'spaced t0 receive thel contada pins of the tube2 und a.plurality ot Contact moans riveted interiorly to one of saint sectionnchContact. means having an 10 inner und adjacent :m orificeA and :ui outer0nd oxttnding from the socket casing.

Signori :it New York city, in the county of New York :uid Stato of 'NewYork, thin` Sth duty of October A. D. 1925.

CHARLES HARDY.

